RCMP release new numbers on murdered and missing indigenous women

The RCMP released an update Friday to their 2014 report that opened Canadians’ eyes to the disproportionate number of missing and murdered aboriginal women in the country, showing that while numbers have dipped that they are still too high with aboriginal women four times more likely to be murdered.

The majority of indigenous women murdered were killed by a spouse or family member and, more likely than not, in their own homes, emphasizing the problem of domestic violence facing aboriginal women. The RCMP says in its review that prevention efforts will need to address family violence.

In the original 2014 report, there were 130 unsolved homicides and 105 missing aboriginal women for a total of 225 cases: that number has dropped slightly to 204 upon further inspection, with the current number of unsolved homicides at 106 and unsolved missing aboriginal women cases down to 98.

With the alarm sounded, those original cases were revisited and as a result, 9.7 per cent were solved to some degree — with a body found, a girl saved, or DNA evidence used to clarify the data.

“The numbers of missing and murdered indigenous women cannot remain a mere statistic,” said AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde in a statement.

“It is time for action that shows the lives of Indigenous women and girls matter. Today’s report is yet another urgent call to action on a national crisis. We cannot ignore the evidence or the reality. There is a significant and tragic over-representation of Indigenous women among the missing and murdered in this country. This is not just a First Nations issue, this is a Canadian issue and we all have a role to play.”

With a federal election looming and continuing calls for the Harper government to start a national inquiry on the issue, opposition MPs were quick to seize on today’s report to slam government inaction. New Democrats and Liberals both have called for one already, with the former promising one within 100 days of forming government in October if given the chance.

High rates of violence against Indigenous women remain b/c of root causes & lack of Fed leadership to end #VAW. This must change. #MMIW

Bennett, the Aboriginal Affairs critic for the Liberal party and long time member of the Liberal women’s caucus, says that Canadians no longer see this as an aboriginal-only issue and will make sure that’s apparent when it comes time to vote in October.

“This tragedy is not getting any better. It’s still there and it’s still this disproportionate number of aboriginal women being killed and disappearing in Canada and this government’s approach just isn’t working,” says Bennett, adding that the Harper government will be on the wrong side of history in this debate.

The report was originally slated for release mid-week but was pushed back to Friday, the last day for the House of Commons before summer break.

“I am disappointed by the timing,” said Ashton, the New Democrats Aboriginal Affairs critic.

“Parliament offers us an opportunity to seek accountability on an issue like this, a national issue of such great importance, and of course we were expecting it sooner this week. But I don’t think Canadians, indigenous and non-indigenous, will let this chance for change be wasted.

“We’re hearing the calls from families and communities, from international organizations like Human Rights Watch and the UN, and we can’t wait any longer,” says Ashton.

As of April, 2015, there were 174 missing aboriginal women across all police jurisdictions in Canada, representing 10 per cent of the 1,750 missing women nationwide, despite aboriginal women representing only 4.3 per cent of the population.

“Aboriginal women continue to be over represented among Canada’s murdered and missing women,” said deputy commissioner Janice Armstrong at the RCMP’s news conference.

“And while I applaud the efforts of everyone whose working to lessen violence against aboriginal women, it is clear that much work remains to be done.”

The numbers are startling: 78 per cent of murdered aboriginal women were victimized by a spouse or family member and incidents happened in the home 68 per cent of the time.

“I can assure you that it is not lost on us that each number, each statistic, represents someone’s mother, daughter, sister or loved one, and we will never lose sight of that fact,” said Armstrong.

Superintendent Tyler Bates, director of the RCMP’s national crime prevention and aboriginal police services, joined Armstrong in the news conference to deliver the technical component and added, “I know this brings no measure of closure and no measure of satisfaction or relief to those families that have loved ones missing and murdered.”

One of the major flaws with the original report last year, which indicated that 1,181 women had been murdered or gone missing between 1980 and 2012, was the quality of data. In several cases, the ethnicity of victims was unclear, as were protocols around how to handle cases and how to keep families informed of investigations.

The new report continues to build information into the database to track trends among the murdered and missing women while updating the country on policy improvements and awareness campaigns being launched to try and stem the trend of murdered and missing indigenous women.